Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “spear gun” come from?

spear gun (English) comes from English Spear, from Middle English spere, from Old French sphere, from Latin sphēra, from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα, from Ancient Greek -ειδής, from Ancient Greek -ής, from Proto-Indo-European -ēs — Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

spear gun (English): A form of mechanical gun that fires a spear as a...

Definitions

  1. A form of mechanical gun that fires a spear as a...

Ancestry of “spear gun”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishSpear—
2Middle EnglishspereA spear or lance; The Lance of Longinus; A barb...
3Old Frenchspheresphere
4Latinsphēra—
5Ancient Greekσφαῖραball, globe, sphere
6Ancient Greek-ειδήςlike, connected to, from the nature of, full of;...
7Ancient Greek-ήςadjective suffix
8Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
9Proto-Indo-European-ess—
10Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →